Wizards, Witches, and Muggles Celebrated Harry Potter’s Birthday with the USO on July 31st

Many of us have celebrated birthdays in new ways this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even more have been re-reading and re-watching our favorite series to keep ourselves entertained at home. So, when our team realized that Harry Potter would be celebrating his 40th birthday on Friday, July 31st, how could we pass up an opportunity to combine the two across multiple platforms?!

Everyone traveling through Denver’s Airport had a chance to join in the fun as we watched the Harry Potter movies throughout the day. Activities continued via social media with conversations about favorite books and movies within the series. And then the grand finale, with nearly 130 players on 38 teams representing all six branches of service, was a virtual trivia event hosted by USO Volunteers Jillian and Paco. (Jillian is a huge fan of the series, while Paco had his first introduction to the wizarding world through this event.) The two of them did an incredible job working together to make this event fun! Families who played said, “The announcers were very fun, and did a great job!” and “We had a blast. Thank you for providing our family with a fun filled evening.”

There’s more to this celebration than meets the eye, it truly embodies everything about the USO’s mission. One family said they extended their fun into an entire week, “We watched the movies together in the week leading up to the event and had so much fun playing!” Activities like this keep morale high, encourage healthy competition, build community, strengthen families, and foster connections that show us we’re not alone as we continue to keep our physical distance from one another this summer.